A Russian town on the border with Ukraine was the scene this Sunday of a new incursion by pro-Ukrainian fighters, repelled according to Moscow, which at the same time continued its campaign of air raids.
(Read also: Russian attacks on kyiv do not stop: they launch 30 missiles for the sixth consecutive day)
The governor of the Russian region of Belgorod, scene in the last days of Ukrainian bombardments, reported “fighting” this Sunday in the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka, next to the border.
“A group of saboteurs came, and a fight is taking place right now on Novaya Tavolzhanka,” Viacheslav Gladkov said on his Telegram channel. “I hope they are all destroyed,” he added.
The Russian army claimed shortly thereafter to have repelled a group of Ukrainian “terrorists” with the help of artillery, which tried to cross into the Belgorod region.
In a statement, the Russian armed forces said surveillance units and the border service of the Federal Security Service “discovered that a sabotage group of Ukrainian terrorists was trying to cross the river near the town of Novaya Tavolzhanka.” The group was “hit by artillery”, “dispersed and withdrew”, he added.
(Also read: Russia accuses Apple and the United States of espionage through unknown malware)
The governor also said the attackers, whom he portrayed as Russian fighters fighting on kyiv’s side, had taken prisoners and proposed an exchange. One of those groups,to the Freedom for Russia Legion, said he had handed over the prisoners in his possession to the Ukrainian authoritieswho regularly organize captive exchanges with Russian forces.
The new incursion of pro-Ukrainian forces into Russian territory came shortly after Russia attacked central Ukraine from the air.
“Victims of the enemy’s hatred”
In one of those attacks, a two-year-old girl was killed on Saturday night and 22 others were injured in the city of Dnipro. In another attack, on Sunday, an airfield near the city of Kropivnitskii in the center of the country was hit, according to Ukrainian authorities.
The Russian army said it had carried out night attacks against Ukrainian military airfields, and claimed to have hit command centers and equipment, without specifying the location of these facilities.
For his part, the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, blamed Russia for the attack in Dnipro on Saturday, and assured that five children were injured in that incident. In a tweet published this Sunday, Zelensky stated that since the beginning of the conflict, in February 2022, 500 Ukrainian children have died.
“Many of them could have become famous scholars, artists, sports champions, and contributed to the history of Ukraine. But they fell victim to missiles and enemy hatred,” he wrote.
Russian bombing raids on Ukraine have intensified in recent weeks, as have incursions by pro-Ukrainian forces in the opposite direction.
Ukraine has spent months preparing a major counteroffensive to regain ground lost since the Russian invasion that began in February 2022.
AFP
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